


Assassin's Creed: Freiheit

by nasaaki



Category: Assassin's Creed - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Assassin's Creed Fusion, Alternate Universe - World War II, Assassin's Creed AU, Assassins vs. Templars, Europe, Gen, Guns, Hidden Blades, Modern Assassins (Assassin's Creed), Nazis, Serious, Templars, Tragedy, War, World War II
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:07:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28001400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nasaaki/pseuds/nasaaki
Summary: It's the Second World War - the deadliest conflict in human history - and Nazi Germany is sweeping through Europe. The secret puppet masters of the war - the Templars - grow ever stronger, forcing the Assassins to retreat into the shadows. His father killed by the Templars, a young Assassin embarks on a quest to find a mythical, ancient artefact to end the war once and for all.





	1. Prologue - Kristallnacht

**10 November 1938 – Berlin, Nazi Germany**

I could feel the heat from the flames around me. I felt the cold sweat pouring down my face as confidence and pride were replaced by rage. I could hear them shouting and screaming as I swirled and slashed. I was surrounded by armed men swinging and aiming their weapons at me. I didn’t know how many I killed. As soon as one fell, I’d turn my attention to another. I thought it would never end, and that I would be stuck there forever at midnight on the burning streets of Berlin, killing and spilling blood. Unwittingly, my mind went back in time and thought,

_How did we get here?_

Just an hour before, I had been awoken by the sound of glass shattering down on the street. I woke up and rushed to the window, and my brother Karl followed not long after. A group of young men were throwing bricks into Mr. Nichelsberg’s shop across the street. When Mr. Nichelsberg himself came out to confront them, he barely dodged the brick they threw at him. And then he was down on the pavement, being kicked and beaten. I could hear Mrs. Nichelsberg screaming from inside the store. And then father came. He didn’t do anything, and it seemed for a while that they were only talking. “I’m going down there,” said my brother as he rushed out of the room. I was about to do the same when the hooligans ran away and father brought the Nichelsbergs to our house. But what we saw was just the beginning.

Everything went by in a flash. I ran downstairs after Karl and found my father sitting by the telephone in the living room. His face was serious, and his eyes were fixed on it, waiting for it to ring at any moment. Karl and I stood near the doorway, looking uncertainly between him and mother tending to the Nichelsbergs in the kitchen. We asked him what was going on, but he told us to go back upstairs and sleep.

Even though we didn’t want to, we did. We knew better than to argue against him in such a situation. But we couldn’t sleep. While Karl sat by the door to see if he could hear anything downstairs, I stayed by the window and looked at the night sky. When we were awoken, the sky was black and dotted with stars. But as time passed by, red and orange rose above the horizon. But it wasn’t the sun; it was the light of the fires burning across the city. I could see pillars of smoke rising high, covering the stars in a thick blanket of grey.

Not long afterwards, Uncle Rudolf came by. At first, I couldn’t see him come down the unlit street, but eventually I was able to make him out in the darkness. He was wearing his black coat with his hood pulled up, almost indistinguishable from his surroundings. He knocked, the door opened, and he went in without a word.

I kept my eyes on the horizon while Karl put his ear to the floor to try and listen to what they were talking about. And then we heard father raise his voice, and I ran over to Karl. We couldn’t make out what it was, but father was angry. We decided we could no longer just sit and wait, and we rushed downstairs again to find father in the midst of a heated debate with Uncle Rudolf.

“Damn it, Ernst!” shouted Uncle Rudolf at my father. “The Council told us to stay put. There’s nothing we can do. There are too few of us left.”

“It is exactly because the Council refuses to do anything that this is happening in the first place! How could we not know that this was going to happen? Not even an inkling?”

“I understand that you-”

Uncle Rudolf’s words were cut short by our arrival in the living room.

“Boys,” said Uncle Rudolf in greeting. He smiled, but I could see that he was in no smiling mood.

“What’s happening, _papa_?” I asked father. He sighed.

“It’s the Nazis,” he said, as he turned around and faced the living room window. “They’re out on the street. Their soldiers, the _Sturmbateilung_. They’re destroying Jewish shops, houses, synagogues, everything. They’re setting fire to them and beating up the people.”

“What? Why would they do that?” I asked, confused.

“If only we knew. But the Assassin Council refuses to send us in. Instead, they’re telling us to stay put and keep low.”

“What do you want to do, Ernst? Rush out and kill as many of them as you can? Blades slashing and guns blazing? There are less than a dozen of us left in Berlin. You know that very well.”

“So, what now? We stand here and watch as the city burn, and innocent people’s lives are ruined? Let them die at the hands of those _Hurensohne_?”

To that, Uncle Rudolf was silent. He seemed conflicted, and reluctant to say what he was about to say. “We have no other choice.”

Father stayed silent too, and just stared at Uncle Rudolf.

“Well, I can’t. To hell with the Council. I’m not going to stand by and just watch. I’m going out there.”

At that moment, mother, who had been listening from the kitchen, came in and asked what my father was going to do. They argued, but father’s mind was set.

Suddenly Karl spoke up. “I’ll go too.”

My mother’s expression turned to one of pure terror. She shouted that she would not allow it. But my father said he was old enough and that if he wishes to go, he should go. I didn’t want to be left out, didn’t want to be the only one just sitting around and doing nothing, and so I announced my intention to go too. But if I expected my father to say the same thing, I was completely disappointed.

“No, you won’t. You’re too young, and your training isn’t complete. You will stay here and protect your mother and the Nichelsbergs.”

“But, _pap-_ ”

“I’ll go too,” said Uncle Rudolf. “I don’t agree with what you’re doing, but it doesn’t sit well with me to just stay here and watch while you and Karl go out there fighting against these bastards.” He told mother not to worry and that he’d keep them safe.

And so, they left; father, Karl, and Uncle Rudolf. I was left alone, gaping in the hallway while mother went back to the Nichelsbergs. I felt frustrated, being treated like a kid and not being trusted to be able to go out and do what I was born to do. I was only a few years younger than Karl, and my training was almost complete. Father had always taught me to do the right thing and to not shrink away from danger if it was to do the right thing, but now I was being told to stay away. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t.

I ran upstairs and changed. I put on my coat, pulled up my hood, and fastened my twin hidden blades. I ran downstairs as fast as I could. I made sure that mother was still in the kitchen, and that she couldn’t see me. I opened the door quietly and ran in the direction they had left.

I caught up to them and followed them at a distance. I stuck to the shadows and walked as silently as I could, just as I had been trained. For the most part, they didn’t fight. They only helped get those who had been hurt to safety, and sometimes they’d intimidate some unarmed hooligans so that they’d run away. Once or twice, father and Uncle Rudolf had been forced to defend themselves and fight on the streets.

Finally, they came on a unit of _Sturmabteilung_ in the middle of beating up an old man on the street. What seemed to be his shop was burning behind him, and his wife and children were being kicked about on the pavement as they cried and screamed. Father, Karl, and Uncle Rudolf came to them and asked them to leave. They scoffed and laughed at the request. I could see seven of them, and they seemed to have been confident in the fact that they outnumbered them.

Three of them started moving around my father, flanking him on two sides. They talked and taunted, but they didn’t attack. When my father showed no signs of moving or going back, they had had enough. One who seemed to be their leader pounced on him, but my father moved out of his way as if it was nothing and the soldier fell face first onto the street. They continued like that for a while, them attacking my father from all sides and him dodging and sometimes getting a punch or kick in.

Eventually, only my father and their leader remained standing. His two comrades had been pulled away by the others, beaten and unable to continue fighting. My father didn’t get hit even once, while his opponent was already a mess. But he refused to back down, out of pride or disbelief I didn’t know. For a few moments, none of them spoke and neither attacked. They just kept moving, circling each other, as if both of them were trying to find some weakness in the other.

And then he rushed and tried to get a hit on father’s face, but my father caught his hand before he could. My father pushed him off, and he fell again onto the street. Karl was laughing, while the soldiers were trying to look away in embarrassment. Father was saying something, and I moved as close as I could to hear what he was saying.

“Leave. You’re proving nothing by doing this.”

Their leader was still lying down on the street. He didn’t lift his head. He was looking at the asphalt, probably embarrassed or brimming with anger at having his pride injured. He lifted his head a little and turned to look at my father. And then in a flash, he had a gun out and was aiming at my father. My heart jumped as the shot rang out.

_Crack!_

My father wasn’t standing where he was. He had dodged the bullet and rushed towards him. The gun had fallen onto the street and my father was twisting their leader’s hands so that he was screaming in pain. One of the soldiers who was watching took out his own gun and was about to aim it at my father, when he felt a cold, sharp blade on his neck. He looked to his left and found Uncle Rudolf had moved there and extended his hidden blade across his neck. He dropped his gun and moved back, raising his hands.

The hooligans ran away, leaving their leader bloodied on the street held down by my father. His bruised face was filled with confusion, anger, and fear. He shouted at his fleeing comrades in fury, telling them to come back and help him. But when they went out of sight, all his anger faded away and what remained was only fear and terror. Suddenly, my father stood up and pulled the leader up with him.

“Go, and don’t ever do this again.” He pushed the leader towards where his comrades had run. He immediately ran as if his life depended on it, not looking back at all.

They came around the old man and his family. While they were talking, a haggard man in torn clothing came around the corner. His face was dirty and bruised and his lip was bleeding. He limped over to where my father, Karl, and Uncle Rudolf were gathered. I saw Karl tensing his arm, preparing to engage his hidden blade, but my father’s hand stayed it. The man came near and half-fell to the ground.

“Sir, please, you’ve got to help.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s the Nazis. A group of soldiers came by, armed to the teeth, and they started burning our shops and beating us up. I managed to get away, but I saw that they were rounding up my neighbours. Please, sir…”

He was begging on his knees, and I could see the tears in his eyes.

“Where?” asked my father. The man gave directions and offered to bring him there.

“Alright, we’ll follow you.” He turned around and spoke to Karl. “Karl, get these people to safety. Rudolf and I will go ahead.”

With that, my brother helped the old man up and brought him and his family back towards the way we’d come from. As for my father and Uncle Rudolf, they followed the haggard man as he limped through the streets. I followed them from a distance, still making sure I was not seen. With Karl being sent back, I would be there to help them if things got worse. That was what I kept thinking as I followed them through the streets.

They reached a wide street flanked by endless buildings on either side. Several of the shops were on fire, their glass storefronts shattered and whatever remained inside having turned to ash. The streetlamps weren’t lit, but the flames provided enough light. And bathed in the fiery light, they could see a group of people sitting on the ground, guarded by three soldiers armed with rifles that you’d see on the battlefield. The soldiers noticed their arrival and turned to face them.

“What are you doing here? Go away.”

The haggard man retreated, but neither father nor Uncle Rudolf moved an inch.

“Are you deaf? I said go away.”

The other soldiers started moving closer to them, unslinging the rifles on their backs.

“What are you going to do to those people?” confronted my father.

“It’s got nothing to do with you. So. Clear. Off.”

The soldier had just begun to aim his rifle at my father when my father pulled it from his hands and kicked him to the ground. With one swift move, Uncle Rudolf kicked another one and delivered a blow to the face of the other. In less than ten seconds, all three soldiers were writhing in pain on the ground. Suddenly, they could hear a loud voice sounding from all around them.

“Impressive, Assassins,” said the voice. “Tales of your skills and… savagery are not exaggerated, it would seem.”

My father and Uncle Rudolf wheeled around and looked uncertainly around them, trying to find the source of the words. “Who are you?” demanded Uncle Rudolf.

“You can probably guess by now to what order I belong.”

“Templars,” father spat as he engaged his hidden blades. “What the hell do you want? What do you gain by doing this?”

“There’s quite an interesting reason really. We don’t just kill people for fun, do we? Or misguided beliefs, such as _some_ do.”

Suddenly, more than a dozen soldiers streamed out of the buildings and the alleyways. A group of them started running out of one I was hiding near to. I hid behind trash cans right at the mouth of the alley, and it was all I could do to quickly hide as I heard their footsteps. They came out and surrounded my father and Uncle Rudolf, blocking any path of escape. They were all armed with rifles, and I could see they wore a different uniform, with the stylised letters _SS_ on their helmets and collars – the _Schutzstaffel_ , the so-called Protection Squadron and the primary foot soldiers of the Templars. They didn’t aim their weapons, but they held it at the ready so that when the order came, they’d be able to shoot.

“But unfortunately, you won’t be alive to hear it.”

One of them raised their rifle and aimed directly at my father’s head. I panicked. I couldn’t let my father get shot. But there were so many, what could I do? A thousand thoughts ran through my head as to what I could do. But I couldn’t figure anything out and I just ran. As he was pulling the trigger, I reached him and tackled him to the ground with all the strength in my body. He fell under my weight and the shot went wide in the sky.

The soldiers were taken by surprise and looked one way or another, some aiming their rifles, others holding back. I got up as quickly as I could and ran over to my father.

“What are you doing here?” he said, the surprise and horror evident in his tone.

“Later,” urged Uncle Rudolf, who was standing in a defensive posture.

The voice came again. “My, my, what do we have here? A son? A father and son team of Assassins fighting together, back to back… dying together, in the face of overwhelming odds. My, how heroic. I hope you don’t regret that, boy.”

He paused.

“Kill them.”

At those words, one of the soldiers began to shout. “ _Ziel!_ ” but before he could finish his orders, I and Uncle Rudolf had closed the distance to the soldiers to our back, while father had done the same with the soldiers in front of us. Like a storm we came upon the soldiers, who were now forced to fight with their daggers and bayonets. I saw that my father had cut down two of them immediately and Uncle Rudolf had taken down one. I did the same with one as I rushed towards him. The fighting was chaotic, and we didn’t realise that the circle around us was becoming smaller as the fighting became more intense. Father fought half a dozen on his own, while I and Uncle Rudolf fought another dozen. It was the heaviest fighting I had ever been in, and we tried our best to not kill anyone, using our blades only when we had no other choice.

One came at me and swung his rifle clumsily, hoping to hit my head. But I was quicker, dodging the blow easily. I ducked and delivered a blow straight to his chin, knocking him backwards and out. Distracted, I didn’t see another coming towards me from behind. The butt of his rifle hit the back of my head, and I fell to the ground. As I lay on the ground, I turned over and saw him about to thrust the point of his bayonet into me when my father took hold of his rifle and punched him right in the face. My father hurriedly turned to me and extended his hand.

“Are you alright, _Sohn_?”

I took his hand and stood up, the pain in the back of my head still sharp and my head spinning slightly.

“It hurts quite a bit, but I’m fine. I can still fight, _papa_.”

There was no time for conversation, as another approached my father from behind. His hit would’ve landed on target if my father had not ducked. As my father ducked, I pulled the attacker’s rifle and he fell forward. I kicked him hard in the stomach and gave a hit to his face. We had taken down more than half of them, and we were making short work of the rest. None of the soldiers were a match for three highly trained Assassins.

Suddenly, the tide changed. A truck came, and more soldiers poured out. We were separated from Uncle Rudolf as more soldiers joined the fray. We were fighting back to back against the onslaught – punching, kicking, dodging, slashing, ducking.

As half a dozen men fell upon me, I was separated from my father. They were attacking me from all sides, swinging the butts of their rifles. Some of their hits got me, and I was bruised and hurting all over. I knocked two out, but four more still came at me. I dodged a swing from above only to have another swing hit me right in the stomach. I fell to my knees, feeling sick as the world around me began to spin.

In the distance, I saw my father fighting a dozen men. He wasn’t like me. He was skilled, experienced, and strong. Two of them attacked him from two different sides, and yet he skillfully deflected both and knocked them out. Three more came after him. One swung the butt of his rifle towards his face, another towards his stomach, and the third one his back. But he dodged them all and delivered a heavy blow to the one aiming at his stomach. He knocked out another one with a punch to the face and was forced to use his blade to slash the other one’s arm and kick him in the face, knocking him out too.

As I was about to stand up and continue the fight, I saw a bit farther away from father one of the soldiers aiming his rifle at me. I stared at him, afraid and unsure of what to do. But my thoughts were cut short by a blow to my face. I could hear father shouting my name. As I fell, I could hear the loud, deafening sound of the shot… and to my horror, I could see my father slowly falling down onto his knees in pain. He had rushed between me and the shooter and had taken the shot meant for me. I hit the asphalt hard, but I couldn’t feel the pain. It felt unreal. I wasn’t sure where I was, or what I was doing.

“ _Ernst!_ ” I heard Uncle Rudolf shout in the distance.

But it quickly faded away, and rage, fear, and desperation overcame me.

“ _Bastarde!_ ” I shouted as I jumped up. I engaged my blades and ran them through the necks of the first two men in front of me. Another came at me from the left and his bayonet grazed my arm, but my blade found his stomach and I pushed him down. I kicked away one as he came to my right. I rushed towards my father. Two soldiers came near him with their rifles held up. They heard me coming and turned towards me, but it was too late. Both fell down as my blades found their mark.

I heard the sound of a bullet casing falling out and saw that the bastard who shot my father was reloading and aiming at me. I pulled up one of the men I just took down and used his body as a shield. The shot took him right in the chest, and he died in pain.

Gathering all the rage in me, I ran towards the shooter. He was shocked, and in vain he tried to quickly reload and shoot me. But his shot missed me, and in a matter of seconds, my blades found their mark in him. I ran my blade through his neck, and as the blood poured out and he gurgled in pain, I shouted at him.

“Die, you _bastard_!”

He cried out in agony before finally dying by my blades. I ran over to my dying father. His limbs were limp, and his face was getting pale. There was so much blood on his shirt. The shot had hit him right in the chest, and my father was struggling to breathe. His eyes were dazed, and he couldn’t focus. Tears started rolling down my cheeks. I was shouting and screaming, but I couldn’t make out what I was saying. I held him in my hands as he lay dying. He finally focused his eyes on me. He held my shoulder with his hand, and he smiled a sad, gentle smile at me.

“ _Nichts ist wahr… Alles ist erlaubt_ ,” he coughed, and blood came out. “Remember that, _Sohn_. Don’t ever forget that. You’re an Assassin, just like me.” He coughed again.

“I’m sorry.” A single tear rolled down his cheek. He breath was ragged. He kept coughing, and with each cough more blood came out. His eyes were becoming unfocused, and his face went pale. As I sat there trying to keep my attention away from father’s blood seeping through his clothes and coating my hands in red, I found myself wondering what he was thinking at that moment. Although fires were burning around us, I felt cold and so did his skin. His hand was shaking, and I could feel his grip on my shoulder getting weaker. He brought his hand to my cheek and caressed it. I could feel the tremor in his cold hand.

“I’m sorry,” he said softly. He was caressing my cheek, and on his face was an expression of regret, but also love and kindness. “I love you. I love your mother, and I love your brother too. Please tell them for me.” I was sobbing, and more tears were streaming down my face. I wanted to say something, but my voice had gone. I wanted to say _don’t leave me, don’t leave us_ , but I couldn’t. He caressed my cheek, trying to calm me down. “I’m sorry,” he said as he pulled his hand slowly. He closed his eyes, and his hand fell onto the ground.

And then his entire body went limp in my arms. I was silent. I wasn’t crying anymore. I felt empty, dead. I felt like my entire world had fallen apart. I laid down his body and stood up. I felt like I couldn’t breathe, and that there was only one thing I could do. I turned my attention to the soldiers who were still alive, some still fighting against Uncle Rudolf.

I ran towards them.

I could feel the heat from the flames around me. I felt the cold sweat pouring down my face as confidence and pride were replaced by rage. I could hear them shouting and screaming as I swirled and slashed. I was surrounded by armed men swinging and aiming their weapons at me. I didn’t know how many I killed. As soon as one fell, I’d turn my attention to another. I thought it would never end, and that I would be stuck there forever at midnight on the burning streets of Berlin, killing and spilling blood.

By the end, more than two dozen men lay dead on the street, turning the asphalt dark and red. My blades were slick with their blood, and cuts and slashes dotted my clothes and face. I didn’t feel any pride or happiness or relief. I was dead. Of all the corpses on the street, I was looking at only one: my father’s. Uncle Rudolf came to me and said some things, but I didn’t catch them.

With Uncle Rudolf, I carried my father’s body home. The sun had risen by the time I reached my house. I went inside and into the living room. My mother came in, her face full of worry. But her expression turned to that of horror when she saw my father. She stood silent for a few seconds, and then she started crying hysterically.

“What happened? What happened? Is he dead? What happened? Ernst, wake up. Ernst, don’t leave me. _ERNST!_ ” cried out my mother frantically. She fell onto her knees and started sobbing.

I gently placed my father’s body on the couch. I closed his eyes and said to him, “ _Ruhe in Frieden, papa_.”

Mr. Nichelsberg and the old man who they saved walked over to my father’s body. They were silent, their eyes full of regret and grief. They knelt and prayed for my father’s soul.

 _Nichts ist wahr, alles ist erlaubt_. Those were some of his last words to me. _Nothing is true_ , _everything is permitted_. The Creed of the Assassins. He died believing in the Creed. He died an Assassin. He died saving me, because I couldn’t stay put and disobeyed his orders. He died because I wasn’t strong enough to save him. The Templars murdered him, and I will make sure they pay.

My name is Jan Adler. I am an Assassin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sturmabteilung - literally "Storm Detachment", they were the paramilitary wing of the early Nazi Party who provided protection for the party, disrupted opposing parties' meetings, fought with the paramilitaries of other parties, and intimidated their targets of persecution such as Jews.
> 
> Papa - papa (all nouns in German are capitalised)
> 
> Hurensohne (sg. Hurensohn) - literally "whoreson"
> 
> Schutzstaffel (abbr. SS) - literally "Protection Squadron", they were a major paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party and later became their primary one
> 
> Ziel! - "Aim!"
> 
> Sohn - son
> 
> Bastard (pl. Bastarde) - bastard
> 
> Nichts ist wahr, alles ist erlaubt - German translation of the Assassin's Creed "nothing is true, everything is permitted"
> 
> Ruhe in Frieden - German equivalent of the phrase "Rest in Peace"


	2. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 31 August 1939. One day before the start of World War II, Jan is suddenly summoned to join a meeting of all the Berlin Assassins, something that does not occur as often as it once did. Little did he know that this was to mark the beginning of a chain of events that would forever change his life, the Assassins, the Templars, and the world.

**31 August 1939 – Berlin, Nazi Germany**

The car stopped on the pavement right outside their house. Jan went outside and got in the back. Uncle Rudolf was driving, and an Assassin named Yannik sat in the front.

“ _Onkel_ Rudolf,” Jan said, waving his hand at him.

“Jan,” he said, nodding.

“ _Guten Tag_ , Jan,” Yannik said as he turned his head back to face him. Yannik smiled at him and Jan nodded.

He did not know Yannik that well, having only met him three times. Twice at their home when father had guests, and once at the funeral. He was a short but stout man with a round, clean-shaven face. His eyes were bright-blue and small, and his hair was brushed to one side but well-kempt. His smile was small, but whenever he smiled, his eyebrows would soften, and he was like a regular nice middle-aged man in Berlin. But what had really caught Jan’s eyes was how high his forehead was. Since he combed his hair neatly to one side, no strands of hair fell onto his face and his forehead was fully exposed.

“How is your mother?” asked Yannik.

“She’s doing fine. The bakery’s doing well right now so she’s busier though.”

Ever since his father had died, his mother had had to work alone in the bakery to support them. Jan usually helped her bake the bread in the mornings, and sometimes he watched the bakery in the afternoon to serve any customers. Karl used to help too, but ever since he had been sent to Rome to help the Italian Brotherhood, it had just been the two of them. Jan was about to go to the bakery with his mother when the telephone rang, and Uncle Rudolf had told him to get ready to be picked up.

“What’s happening, _Onkel_?”

“Heinrich is gathering everyone.”

Heinrich Kogler was the head of the Assassin bureau in Berlin. Jan had only met him twice, once at home and once at the funeral. He had never spoken to him before.

“It’s probably something big, something important,” added Yannik. “We don’t gather much these days.”

They stopped in front of the café that served as the Assassins’ hideout, the Café von Birken. It was early in the morning and there were few customers. A man in a clean, grey suit with a well-trimmed moustache and a receding hairline greeted them as they entered. He was Adrian von Birken, the proprietor of the café and ally to the Assassins, although he himself was not an Assassin. He bowed at them, his expression polite and subdued.

“ _Willkommen_ , _Herr_ Weisberger,” he said, greeting Uncle Rudolf using his last name.

“ _Herr_ von Birken,” replied Uncle Rudolf.

“Can I get you anything? A cup of coffee or tea, perhaps?”

“No, thank you.”

“As usual then?”

Uncle Rudolf nodded. Adrian nodded back and turned around, leading them through a door behind the counter and into the back. On both sides of the flower-patterned green wall were four identical wooden doors, two on each side. At the end of the hallway next to the window was a set of stairs going up and down. He led them down into the basement where they reached a storage room.

“I must get back to the front,” he said as he turned around and went upstairs without a word.

Yannik walked towards the cabinet at the end of the room and pulled it out of the way, exposing the brick wall behind. Uncle Rudolf put his hands on the wall, moving across its surface as he tried to find the loose brick. After a few seconds, he pushed it and stepped back. Silently, the wall opened. Without a word, Uncle Rudolf grabbed one of the lanterns on the shelves in the room and went inside. Jan followed him, and Yannik came in last. As Uncle Rudolf lit the lantern, Yannik pulled the cabinet back into place and pressed a button on the side of the wall. As the wall slid back into place, the corridor grew darker and the only source of light was the lantern.

They went further inside until finally they went down a flight of stairs, turning right once, and came to a slightly rusted metal door. Uncle Rudolf knocked twice and then waited. Not long afterwards, there were footsteps approaching the door. They became louder and louder until there was the sound of locks being opened and a wooden bar being lifted, before finally the door opened and a man in a coat with its hood pulled up covering half of his face stood in the entryway.

Without a word, he gestured for us to follow him. There was a light coming from a door on the left of the corridor they had just entered. They walked a few steps before turning left and came into a modest-sized room with a dusty wooden table in the middle, with a single dim yellow lamp hanging above it. Inside stood five Assassins, with Heinrich Kogler standing at their head. Behind him hung a tattered yellow banner with the symbol of the Assassins in black. They were talking amongst themselves and when Jan and the others came, they turned their heads. Heinrich smiled.

“ _Willkommen_ , Rudolf, Yannik, Jan. Now that everyone is here, let us begin.”

Despite being the leader of the Berlin Assassins, Heinrich was a relatively young man, younger than both Jan’s father and Uncle Rudolf. Born out of wedlock to a prostitute with an unknown father, he grew up on the streets of Berlin where he survived by pickpocketing and stealing. Until one day, he was found by the Assassin Benedikt Kogler, who took him and became his mentor and introduced him to the Brotherhood. He was dedicated to the Creed and worked tirelessly in pursuit of its ideals. Rather than large, he was lean and stood tall and confident. Underneath his slightly ruffled short dark brown hair, his brown eyes shone with seriousness and intelligence.

Yannik approached the table and looked around, counting and recognising each of the Assassins in the room. He furrowed his eyebrows and turned to Heinrich.

“Where’s Linus?”

Everyone turned their eyes to Heinrich, who stayed silent and stared at the map of Germany on the table. He closed his eyes and sighed.

“He’s gone.”

Everyone in the room fell silent as the shock came over them. Yannik gaped, Uncle Rudolf looked down and some others followed suit, while others still were confused. Jan himself did not know who Linus was, only knowing that there was an Assassin by that name. He had been at the funeral too.

“What happened?” asked Yannik.

“A few days ago, we received information from our contact in the army that Hitler’s ordered the army to move to the Polish border. As you all know, Hitler has been demanding that Poland hand over Danzig to Germany. Two days ago, Hitler also demanded the restoration of the Polish Corridor. But we believed that this was all a farce, and that Hitler has been planning to invade Poland all along. I passed this to the Council in Essen, but they didn’t do anything.

I sent Linus to dig around and find out more. He managed to break into the _Schutzstaffel_ headquarters and came upon a set of top-secret documents containing information unknown to the Brotherhood. Unfortunately, he was discovered. The guards went after him, and he got shot. He managed to lose them and reach me here, along with the documents in hand.”

Heinrich covered his eyes with his hand and held onto the table.

“I couldn’t save him.”

The atmosphere in the room became heavy. For a few minutes, no one spoke or made a sound. Until finally one of them named Angelina spoke.

“The bastards,” she muttered under her breath. “The _bastards_. We lost Ernst last year, and now Linus. I swear I’ll make those Templar, Nazi bastards pay even if I have to slit their throats one by one. I’ll make them _pay_.”

She punched the wall.

“Where is he now, Heinrich?” asked Yannik, his voice soft and sad.

“He is still on the bed in the next room.”

“Then, excuse me for a while. I must pay my respects to him.”

As he turned around to open the door, Heinrich called out after him.

“No, Yannik. We will pay our respects after this. Because we are running against the clock.”

He turned around and picked up a brown, blank folder filled with sheaves of papers from the table underneath the banner and put it in the middle of the table. Everyone turned their eyes to it.

“Linus died for this information. But we now have information of events that are about to happen that will change the very fate of this world. We have no time to spare. We must act, or soon there will be nothing left of the world we know.”

Heinrich swept the documents to one side and let the others see the map of Germany and Poland on the table.

“The Templars plan to start another world war. And from the ashes, they hope to establish a New World Order under their rule. And it begins here, in Poland. Hitler plans to invade Poland.”

Heinrich paused and placed white chess pieces on the German provinces of East Prussia north of Poland, Silesia west of Poland, and on Slovakia south of Poland.

“The _Wehrmacht_ plans to encircle Poland. They plan to attack from three directions and encircle Poland. North from East Prussia, west from Silesia, and south from Slovakia. All three armies would head towards the capital Warsaw, and they hope to destroy the Polish army west of the Vistula river.

Britain and France will declare war on Germany after Poland is invaded. And the Soviets have signed an agreement to share Poland with Germany, albeit secretly. The world will be dragged into another great war.”

Heinrich straightened his back and took a breath. Jan and the others paid attention, but the shock and disbelief were clear on their faces. Yannik closed his mouth and muttered under his breath.

“ _Oh Gott_. It’s happening again.”

“And that is not all. Among the documents Linus found are documents related to a top-secret project called _Projekt Wodan_.”

“ _Projekt Wodan_?” asked Angelina.

“Yes. We don’t know what it is. The documents Linus discovered did not mention what Project Wodan is, only that some operations are to be carried out in Poland related to this project.”

“Have you contacted the Polish Brotherhood, Heinrich?” asked Yannik. As in many other countries, there was an Assassin brotherhood in Poland.

“No, unfortunately. I have sent word to the Council in Essen, but I cannot contact our brothers and sisters in Poland. The Nazis have cut most communications to Poland. And no doubt, the Polish Brotherhood will be occupied with helping the Polish Army to try and repel the _Wehrmacht_.”

“But that’s unlikely to succeed, is it,” quipped in Uncle Rudolf. Heinrich looked at Rudolf then back to everyone else.

“Yes. That is unlikely. The Polish Army is not fully mobilised yet, and they are outnumbered and outgunned. The best that the Brotherhood in Poland can do is to slow them down, perhaps get civilians to safety, and give enough time for the Polish government and armies to retreat. That is the best they can hope to do.”

“So, what do we do then?”

“The Council has ordered us to send a team to Poland to contact the Polish Brotherhood and to find out more about their operations there. Brothers, sisters, we are at war.”

Heinrich turned around and took a rolled map from the table under the banner. He unrolled it on the table, covering the map of Germany and Poland with a more detailed map of Poland, complete with the names of many small towns and villages. He scanned the map and pointed at a small point in the middle of Western Poland. Its name was written as _Sczceciwek_.

“Sczceciwek. This village was mentioned in the documents Linus recovered. The document contained a list of people to be executed there and the surrounding towns and villages – clergy, the educated, teachers, community leaders. They are sending _Totenkopf_ – Death’s Head – units to kill all Polish men, women, and children that they come across. These units will follow the invasion force.

However, a special battalion called the Hel Battalion is being specifically sent to Sczceciwek. The documents mention that they are tasked with the search and recovery of a certain artefact believed to be in the local church. This is our top priority. We must find out what they are looking for and retrieve it if possible.”

“Alright, so who’s going there?” asked Yannik, straightening out the map and studying it. Heinrich cleared his throat.

“I’ve selected a team. Angelina, you will lead the team.”

“Understood,” she said, nodding. “And my team?”

“Kevin,” he said, looking at the Assassin who had led Jan and the others to the meeting room. And then he looked at Jan. “And Jan.”

“What?” Uncle Rudolf asked, his voice filled with disbelief.

“Heinrich, he’s just a boy,” said Yannik.

“He is young, yes, but he is an Assassin. Just like his father, his brother, you, me, and all of us here. And we all have a part to play.”

“Yes, but why must it be him?”

“Because he is one of the quickest among us and one of our best fighters.”

“That may be true, but he’s got no exp-“

“I’ll do it,” Jan said, speaking up. Everyone looked at him in surprise. “I’ll go.”

“ _Sehr gut_. Angelina, Kevin, Jan, get ready. You leave as soon as possible.”

“Alright,” said Angelina. Kevin nodded.

“May I say goodbye to my mother first?” Jan asked, not wishing to suddenly disappear on his mother.

“Very well. But make it quick. We don’t have much time. You three can leave. Everyone else, we have jobs to do in Berlin.”

“Come on,” Angelina gestured for Jan to follow.

Angelina opened the door and left. Kevin and Jan followed after her. Outside the door, she turned around to face them. Her face was hidden by the darkness of the corridor.

“I’m going to get ready. Kevin, you go with Jan to his home. Then we’ll meet in that alley outside the safehouse on the road to Warsaw, outside Berlin.”

Kevin and Jan nodded and watched her as she turned around and went out of the corridor door. Kevin turned around and looked at Jan, and Jan looked back at him. He nodded towards the door and started walking. Jan started to follow after him, but he stopped in his steps and tentatively turned his head around towards the door next to room where Linus was lying.

He walked towards the door and stood before it. He did not understand why he was going there, but he wanted to see Linus. He reached out for the doorknob, his hand shaking. The slightly rusted yellow doorknob was cold to the touch. He turned it and slowly opened the door inwards, the hinges creaking.

The room was lit by a single yellow lamp hanging from the centre of the ceiling. Under it was a bed and a table. On the table were an assortment of medical supplies – scissors, stitches, cotton, bottles of alcohol and other substances Jan knew nothing about. A lot of the cottons were drenched dark red on one side, the same colour as the bedsheet under the body on the bed and the clothes Linus was wearing. The room was still and the only sound there was came from the meeting room next to it.

Jan walked silently towards Linus. His feet were trembling, but he kept moving forward. Linus was still in his Assassin robes. His hands were crossed on top of his chest, clearly showing the bloodied Assassin ring on his right hand. Even though they didn’t cut off their fingers or burn the ring into the skin anymore, the German Assassins still wore rings like so many generations of Assassins did before them. There were scratches and dried patches of blood all over his hands. His eyes were closed, and he was resting in peace. If not for the blood or his ragged appearance, Jan could’ve thought that he was sleeping. The skin of his stubbly face was pale and looked cold.

Suddenly the door creaked, and Jan’s heart stopped. He turned around and Kevin was standing in the doorway. Kevin did not say anything, and for a few seconds they just stared at each other. Then wordlessly, Kevin nodded towards the corridor door and Jan nodded back. Jan followed Kevin and moved to close the door. But before he did, he took one last look at Linus, resting peacefully on the bed. And then he closed the door.

The smell of freshly baked bread wafted through the air as Jan opened the door to the bakery. Kevin was waiting outside the bakery, so there was no one inside except for Jan. Behind the glass panes of the counter were lines of an assortment of bread, cakes, pastries, cookies, and pies. Some spots were empty, the bread having been sold to people going to work in the morning rush hour. On the wall behind the counter, the owners’ family name was written in large, white, capital letters: _KLINGER_. Jan was suddenly hungry. He had only eaten one bread roll in the morning.

“ _Willkommen!_ ” shouted his mother from the kitchen in the back where they baked the bread. “Wait just a minute please.”

His mother came out of the kitchen, wiping her flour-covered hands with a plain grey cloth. She had her shoulder-length, wavy, dark brown hair in a hair net, exposing her reddened cheeks that stood out on her smooth, white skin. Underneath her red and white plaid apron, she wore a simple, plain lime green dress. She looked every bit the part of baker, a job she had been forced to find after his father had died, and one that Mr. Klinger was kind enough to give. Her dark brown eyes widened when she saw that it was Jan.

“Jan! Sweetie, what are you doing here? I thought you went with _Onkel_ Rudolf.” She finished wiping her hands and smiled at him, leaning slightly above the counter. “Did you come to help me in the kitchen?”

“No, _Mama_.” He smiled, still not sure how he was going to tell his mother that he had to go, to Poland too. When Karl left, it had been hard on her. She did not show him, but he knew she cried every night the first few days, missing him and sick with worry. Jan did not want to do that to her. “I just came by to see you.”

“Do you have to go back again?”

“Yeah.”

“How sweet of you, but I have to go back to work, okay?” She crouched and took a paper bag out of the counter. “You didn’t have much to eat this morning, did you? Here, I’ll give you some bread,” she said, as she took two bread rolls and put it in the paper bag. She stood up and handed it to him.

“Is this okay? What would Mr. Klinger say?” He opened the paper bag. The sweet smell of the bread made him even hungrier.

“It’s fine. He said I could take two or three pieces of bread to take home anyway.” She smiled at him. “Now go, go. They’re waiting for you, aren’t they? I’m going back to work, okay.” She stared at him, waiting for him to leave.

Jan stood in front of his mother holding the paper bag in his hand. He did not move and kept his eyes on the two bread rolls in the bag. He looked up and beheld his mother’s aging but beautiful face. Wrinkles had started to line her face, but Jan still felt warm and safe every time he saw her. He used to have to raise his head to look up at her, but now it was reversed. She had to look up at him. Both her sons had grown up tall, a good one head above her. He had to say it, he knew that.

“ _Mama_.”

“Yes?”

“I have to go.”

“Yes, I know. Be careful on your way, okay?”

“No, that’s what I mean. I mean, yes, that’s what I mean.” He sighed and cast his eyes downwards. “I have to go. To Poland.”

Her smile disappeared, and her eyes widened at the mention of Poland. She knew what was going on. People were talking about it, saying that there was probably going to be some conflict between Germany and Poland. She had been afraid of this ever since then, afraid that there was going to be a war and that their lives would get harder. But more than that, she was afraid that Jan was going to be a part of it. She gulped.

“ _A-ach so_.” Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, and her mind was foggy. She struggled to find the words to say. “W-w-when are you coming back?”

“I don’t know.” Jan’s heart dropped at the sight of his mother’s anxiety. He did not want to do this, but he had to tell her. He couldn’t lie to her. “Don’t worry, _Mama_. I’m going to be fine. I’ll be back home faster than you think. I promise you that.” Her hand was on the counter. He stepped forward and held it. It was trembling. “I promise, _Mama_.”

“Y-you have to leave now?”

“Yes, _Mama_. As soon as possible.” Water came to her eyes, and she started to sniffle. Jan brought his arms around her and hugged her. “I’m going to be fine, _Mama_. I’m going to be careful. I promise. I promise.” She was sniffling, but she didn’t cry. She was trembling in his arms.

Jan came out of the store, and Kevin was still waiting with his back against the storefront. He had had his eyes focused on the street, watching the people go by. Noticing Jan, he looked at him. Jan nodded, and he nodded back. With that, Kevin turned around to go, and Jan started to follow after him. Jan stopped in his steps and turned to see the inside of the bakery one more time. His mother was in the kitchen, only her back visible to him. She hunched over and crouched, her head on her knees. Jan felt like his heart was being crushed, but there was no other choice. He was an Assassin, like his father, brother, and ancestors before him. He had a duty to do, even if it caused his mother grief. He turned away and caught up to Kevin. She continued to cry.

As the sun began to set in the west, Kevin drove them further away from it. They were on an eastbound road headed towards Poland. They were still in Berlin, but the further they went the less buildings there was on either side and the less people and cars there were on the streets. Instead, they were replaced by more and more shrubbery and trees. Angelina sat in the front seat, talking to Kevin about how long she thought the trip was going to be.

“We’re probably going to have to abandon the car when we get near to the front,” she said, as she inserted a magazine into her Luger pistol. She turned around towards Jan. “Here.” She offered him a Luger pistol, handle first. “You’re going to need it.”

Jan said thanks and nodded. He knew how to use pistols; his father had taught him how to shoot accurately. But it had always been at a shooting range, and never against a moving, living target. The worn-out brown handle felt familiar but cold and heavy in his hands. Was he going to use it? _That’s a stupid question_ , he thought to himself. It was a given that he’d use it.

On the other side of the backseat were three old Gewehr 98 rifles, the main rifle of the German Army in the Great War. When they had come to pick her up, Angelina was carrying the bag that now lay on the foot of the seat behind Angelina’s. She had gone back into the alley she was standing in front of, beckoning Kevin to drive in. There, she opened the back door and threw in the three rifles. They were old and worn out, but Angelina assured him that they could still kill a man. The bag was full of ammunition.

The buildings had disappeared and had been replaced by a variety of bushes, trees, shrubs, and the wide stretches of farmland. There were no cars in front or behind them, and very few people passed them by on the road. As Kevin increased their speed, Jan turned around and looked through the rear window. The last rays of sunlight were covering the city in a blanket of bright orange. With each passing second, the city grew smaller and more distant. A heavy feeling set upon Jan’s heart as the city slowly disappeared behind him, the city where he had grown up and where his mother still was, alone. He wondered to himself,

_When will I see it again?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Onkel – uncle
> 
> Guten Tag – hello, good afternoon, literally “good day”
> 
> Willkommen – welcome
> 
> Herr – sir, mister
> 
> Schutzstaffel (abbr. SS) – literally “Protection Squadron”, they were a major paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party and later became their primary one
> 
> Projekt – project
> 
> Wehrmacht – literally “defence force”, they were the armed forces of Nazi Germany
> 
> Totenkopf – literally “Death’s Head”, refers to the SS-Totenkopfverbände (“Death’s Head Units”), units of the SS who joined the Invasion of Poland to terrorise the Polish people and murdering Poland’s political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, clergy, intellectuals, Jews. They later became the unit responsible for guarding and running concentration and extermination camps
> 
> Sehr gut – “very good”
> 
> Mama – mommy
> 
> Danzig – the German name for Gdańsk, a city in Poland in a disputed region at the time known as the Polish Corridor (see Polish Corridor). It has a complicated political history, having been part of Poland and Germany as well as being independent throughout its history. It was part of Poland before World War II and was one of the demands of Nazi Germany before the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gda%C5%84sk
> 
> Polish Corridor – a region of territory which before World War II was held by Poland and separated Germany from the province of East Prussia. It also became one of the demands of Nazi Germany before the war. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_Corridor
> 
> East Prussia – province of Nazi Germany, north of what was then Polish territory, separated from the rest of Germany by the Polish Corridor. It is now part of Poland, Lithuania, and Russia.
> 
> Silesia – a historical region in Central Europe, now mostly part of Poland, with some parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Parts of it were part of Nazi Germany before World War II.
> 
> Slovakia – during the period right before World War II, Slovakia was forced by Nazi Germany to become an “ally”. It was previously part of the pre-World War II country of Czechoslovakia.
> 
> Vistula – the longest and largest river in Poland


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jan and the Assassins arrive at Sczceciwek as the Nazi invasion of Poland begins. They find the village controlled by Nazi soldiers terrorising the inhabitants, searching for something.

**Near Sczceciwek, Poland – 1 September 1939**

Jan ran through the forest with the handgun in his hand, zigzagging between the tall, thin trees around him. He was heaving with the weight of the rifle slung across his back. In the distance, the soldiers were shouting and chasing after him. Neither Angelina nor Kevin was around, and he didn’t know where they were after they got separated.

The vegetation covering the forest ground grew denser. The leaves of the plants hit Jan’s sides as he ran. His pace was slowing, yet the two soldiers chasing him were still on his tail. Jan looked around him and tried to find a place to hide. There was a pile of logs covered all over by moss a few steps away from him. He ran towards it as fast as he could and lay flat on his stomach behind a log, facing the place where he had been standing just a few seconds before. Catching his breath, he unslung the rifle from his back and held it in his hands. It was far heavier in his hands than he’d imagined, and he laid the barrel on the log.

The two soldiers arrived, heaving as they carried their rifles and aimed uncertainly around them. Their weapons were the newer Karabiner 98k kurz rifles, shorter than their predecessor that Jan was aiming towards them. They were still clean, their wooden barrels shining in the sunlight from beyond the treetops. In their greatcoats, they stood tall and imposing. Their young, white faces, blue eyes, and blonde hair were the prime example of the Nazis’ so-called “superior” Aryan race. They were in front of Jan, exposing their flanks to him.

“Do you see him?” one asked as he aimed his rifle towards the distance to Jan’s right.

“No, where could he have gone?”

“ _Verdammt_! He couldn’t have just disappeared.”

Jan breathed in and held the cool autumn air in his lungs. He looked down the sight of his rifle and steadied it, aiming it straight at the head of the closest one. As he prepared to pull the metal trigger, a bead of cold sweat dripped down his face. He was slightly trembling, and his heart beat so loudly against his chest that he thought it would burst.

A hand pushed the barrel of his rifle down, bringing his hand with it. He let go of the rifle and quickly rolled over onto his back and tensed his left arm, pulling out the sharp blade out from under his wrist and thrusting it upwards towards whoever or whatever had been behind him. The blade barely missed the head and Jan found his forearm held up by a strong, small grip. Beneath her faded black hood and dark brown hair, Angelina looked at Jan. He relaxed his muscles and let down his arm, tensing it once again to pull back the blade. Angelina put a finger to her lips and nodded, telling him to be quiet. Jan turned his head back. The two soldiers were looking uncertainly in their direction.

“Did you hear that?”

“ _Ja_ , it sounded like a knife being pulled out.”

“It came from over there, I think.”

They started walking towards Jan and Angelina, holding up their rifles with their fingers ready to pull the trigger at any moment. A shadow appeared out the corner of his eye. In a blink of an eye, the farther soldier had fallen onto the dirt, a black mass crouching over him. His comrade turned back and aimed his rifle at it. One moment he exposed his neck, and the next Angelina’s blade had pierced it. She had leapt over the logs and rushed towards him. Kevin stood up from the dead soldier beneath him. His right blade was engaged, and it was slick with fresh, crimson blood. Angelina pulled her blade out of the soldier’s neck and pushed him. He fell forwards towards the ground, letting his rifle fall as he clutched at his neck. Blood gurgled from his mouth and seeped through his fingers. After a few final spasms, he went limp and stopped moving.

Jan stood up and walked towards them, slinging his rifle across his back. Angelina and Kevin were both sweeping their hands against the air, clearing the blood from their blades, and pulled them back in.

“Do you know why I stopped you, Jan?” Angelina asked him. She turned around to face him as he approached.

“Because Kevin was already about to attack?”

“No, two reasons.” Angelina pointed to the two corpses on the ground. “There were two of them. Once you took out one, you’d have to take out the other. But I don’t doubt that you’d be able to do that. But if you had done that, the gunshots would’ve been heard all over. We’re near the village.” She pointed towards the denser woods in the distance behind them. “It’s right over there, behind those trees. If you had shot them, we would’ve had the entire battalion chasing us.”

She turned around and pointed at one corpse towards Kevin, who nodded and picked him up. He carried him back towards the logs where Jan had been hiding and threw it down amongst them. Angelina pointed at the other one while looking at Jan. Jan did the same, while Angelina threw away the rifles. They started moving towards the village, Angelina at their head followed by Jan and Kevin. As they walked, Angelina spoke in a hushed voice.

“Remember, Jan. An Assassin’s greatest strength isn’t their skill at fighting or shooting. It’s stealth.”

Coming out of the trees, an array of white houses with thatched roofs lay before them. There were no villagers in sight. In their place, German soldiers went from house to house, breaking down doors that couldn’t be opened. Two stood guard at the entrance to the village, facing the dirt road that led into the woods. The golden skull over two bones on their right collars marked them as soldiers of the _SS-Totenkopfverbände_ – the Death’s Head Units. Like crows they followed the invasion to spread terror among the innocent people now under the control of Nazi Germany. They did not fight against soldiers, save for the few stragglers. Their job was to kill people, soldier or not, and especially those they deem dangerous to their rule – community leaders, scholars, priests. But on their left arms they wore something that differentiated them from the other Death’s Head Units: a black armband with the symbol of a red cross on it. They were no ordinary Death’s Head soldiers; they were men of the Hel Battalion, whose allegiance lay not only to Nazi Germany, but also to the Templars Order.

The three Assassins slid behind a pile of logs beside the closest house. They unslung their rifles and slowly brought their heads up, peeking over the wood. Rows and rows of houses stood before them, as far as the eye could see. Some of their doors had been broken down, and clothes and furniture lay in front of them in disarray, thrown out of their homes. Others had soldiers outside, waiting as their comrades ransacked it.

“What are they doing?” There was at least two dozen of them in sight.

“They’re looking for something,” Angelina said, squinting her eyes. “Look, in the distance.”

Jan and Kevin directed their eyes towards where she was pointing. There were people marching in line, barely visible. Like a pack of wolves, the soldiers stood on their flanks, holding up their rifles and shouting at them to keep moving.

“They’re bringing everyone there.” Angelina moved towards the back of the house and gestured for them to follow. “We need to get there.”

They made their way around the house and through the village. They used the walls and shadows to their advantage, moving from cover to cover, hiding whenever a patrol came too near and silently running whilst they weren’t looking. Jan lost track of how many soldiers they had passed. All in all, there might’ve been a hundred or more of them, merciless, cruel, and armed to the teeth.

They reached a plaza surrounded by houses and shops with a small church at its head. They hid behind barrels next to the house closest to the church. The villagers were all sitting on the ground, surrounded by no less than twenty soldiers. Men, women, and children cowered at the sight of their rifles and bayonets. Babies and toddlers clung to their mothers, crying, who desperately tried to calm them down, not knowing what the soldiers would do if the cries continued.

More of the soldiers stood in front of the church, guarding its entrance and keeping a close eye on the villagers. Three more stood near a man in a peaked cap wearing a greatcoat as he observed the villagers. They were speaking in low voices and they strained to hear what they were saying, to no avail. He had his back to them, showing only the short, dark brown hair on the back of his head.

At the sound of dragging feet, they turned around and faced the church. Two soldiers were dragging out a priest by his arms. Another soldier walked in front of them. They walked towards the officer in the peaked cap. When the villagers realised who it was that was being dragged out of the church, a stifled cry came out of them. The commotion grew louder as they spoke amongst themselves or to the guards around them. The officer paid them no heed and cast his eyes on the priest whose head was down. The soldier walking in front stopped before the officer and extended his right arm into the air, his hand straightened – the Nazi salute.

Just then, a man stood up from among the villagers and shouted at the officer. He pointed his finger towards the priest, whose head was still dangling forward. Jan did not understand what he said for he spoke in Polish, but the words nonetheless were sharp and rough. The officer looked at him with a dull expression in his eyes. Whether he did not understand what he was saying, or he did not find it particularly interesting, Jan didn’t know. The man’s rage-filled curses were cut short when one of the nearby guards came to him. With all his strength, the soldier brought the butt of his rifle towards the man’s face. He fell backwards onto a group of villagers, who caught him. His face was bruised, and blood flowed out from his mouth.

“Quiet!” hissed the soldier, spitting at the ground in front of the man.

The officer turned his attention back to the priest.

“ _Guten Morgen_ , _Vater_.” The officer spoke in a low voice and made a small bow of the head. “How are you?”

The priest slowly lifted up his head. From where they were hiding, his face wasn’t visible. But there were bruises and patches of dried blood on the side of his face. The priest looked straight in the officer’s eyes.

“You don’t look too well, _Vater_. I apologise, it seems that my men have once again gone too far.” The officer turned his head towards his men. His eyes circled around, looking at his soldiers. “How many times have I told you not to be too rough with our hosts?” His tone was dry and sarcastic, and in response his men chuckled and smiled. He crouched, bringing his face close to the priest’s.

“I’m sorry to disturb you and the village, _Vater_ , but I have need of your aid.” His smile sent shivers down Jan’s spine. “Where is the artefact? We know it is here, in this village. We know you’ve been hiding it. We just don’t know exactly where. We would be very grateful if you could help us in this regard.” Though he smiled, his eyes were creased and serious.

For a moment, the priest said nothing. He looked at the soldiers surrounding him, and then cast his attention back to the officer.

“I do not know what you are talking about, sir,” the priest said, his German thick with a Polish accent. “We are a small village. We only chop trees and raise farm animals, and our church is a small one. There is nothing here but logs, pigs, chickens, cows, a church, and its old priest. There is nothing special here, sir. Please spare us. We’ll give you anything.”

“I’ve told you what we need, _Vater_. The artefact that is inside your church.” His face retained his cold smile, but the priest would not answer. Seeing this, he nodded his head and stood up. “Very well. Perhaps a little more persuasion is required.” He turned around and signaled to the sergeant standing near the villagers. The sergeant nodded and turned to his men surrounding the villagers.

“Bring up ten of them!”

At his command, the guards moved forward, standing above the villagers cowering in fear. Each of the five guards pointed at two and told them to step forward. The villagers all hesitated and sat still, looking around at each other. When they did not move, the soldiers pointed their rifles at them and shouted at them to move. The villagers screamed and shouted. Children and babies cried louder as the ten men and women were dragged or pushed towards the church. There they stood in a line facing the officer and the priest.

“ _Leutnant_ ,” said the officer, without turning his head, looking at the ten villagers in front of him.

“ _Jawohl!_ ” shouted the lieutenant, raising his hand in a Nazi salute.

At that, ten soldiers who had been standing by the side marched forward and each stood a few paces in front of one villager. They aimed their rifles at the villagers, and a great cry arose among the villagers in the back. Some of them stood up, begging and crying in Polish. Jan could not understand them, but it was clear what they were speaking of from their faces. Those who stood up were told to sit down, and when they didn’t, were either pushed down or would meet the butt of a rifle.

The officer raised his hand to signal them to halt and turned back towards the priest. His head was now looking forwards, his eyes frantically going from one villager to another. He was shaking, and the tremor reached his hands, still held up by the two soldiers.

“Now, let’s try this again, _Vater_.” He crouched in front of the priest and looked into his eyes. “Where is the artefact? My men have searched throughout the church, but they could not find it.” He pointed towards the ten villagers. “I, and these people, would greatly appreciate your aid.”

The priest looked down and spoke in a low voice. The officer turned his head so that his ear was facing towards the priest and asked him to repeat what he had said. The priest spoke once again. The officer, satisfied, smiled at him and stood up.

“Damn it, what did he say?” Angelina cursed.

“See? That wasn’t too difficult.” The officer called over the lieutenant and whispered something into his ear. The lieutenant nodded and ordered his men to stand down. The officer then led half a dozen soldiers into the church followed by the two soldiers dragging the priest, leaving behind the villagers.

“We have to get in,” Angelina said, immediately moving towards the side of the church. “Let’s go.”

Angelina went first, scaling the aged wooden wall of the church as quick as lightning and climbing onto the roof. She crouched and kept her profile as small as she could. Jan came after, followed by Kevin. They ran over the roof, keeping their footsteps light as they made their way behind the church tower where the soldiers in front would not be able to see them.

They stood with their backs to the wall. Angelina peeked around the corner of the tower, checking if any of the soldiers had seen them. Save for the few marching soldiers, everything was as it had been. Satisfied, she sighed and turned to Jan and Kevin.

“Alright. Let’s go. I’ll go first. Jan, you come after me. Kevin, you go last.” Without waiting for their reply, Angelina quickly leapt and climbed the wall. Skillfully she grasped the notches and openings, making her way up without a sound. He stared in awe of her agility. Kevin tapped him on his shoulder, shaking him back to reality. He quickly went after her and followed where she had placed her hands and feet.

Pulling himself over the wall, Jan found himself on the top of the tower beside the rusted church bell hanging from its roof. Angelina crouched behind the front wall, peeking through to see the soldiers down below. Kevin came not long afterwards, and the three of them gathered, crouching.

Nodding to each other, Angelina went down the ladder into the church first. Leaping down, Jan found himself standing on a dusty wooden balcony overlooking the pews. They edged closer towards the edge. The soldiers were pulling up the wooden boards on the altar. They piled up the boards on the side as two of them went into the hole that appeared underneath. The officer watched on, the smile that had been on his face gone, replaced by a cold, hard expression. He kept his eyes on the hole, squinting.

One soldier came up the hole, his sleeves and face smudged with dirt. He looked around and pulled himself up. He turned around and leaned into the hole, pulling something out of it. Jan’s sight was blocked by his body. He pulled it up and patted it, sending dust flying to one side. The other soldier pulled himself up, and they made their way to the officer.

The soldier slightly struggled under the weight of the box. It was dark grey and even from the distance the intricate carvings were ancient and beautiful. Standing before the officer, he presented the box. The officer’s eyes widened and his hand, trembling, slowly brushed over the top. Cautiously, he opened the box. At his first try, it would not open. It was heavy, and the top would not open. After putting in all his strength, it opened with a loud creak.

As soon as he did, a bright light shone onto his face. His mouth gaped and his eyes widened even further. All the soldiers around him lowered their rifles and looked at it. They stepped back, not sure whether to be astonished or terrified. The priest covered his face with his hands and cried out in Polish. The officer began to smile.

“You have never seen this, have you, _Vater_?” He didn’t take his eyes off the artefact.

“No… It has been buried here for generations… What have you done? What calamity will you bring upon us?”

The officer chuckled and closed the box. The room suddenly became dark as the light receded. He took in a breath, still smiling widely. Jan turned to Angelina, but she was still intently watching the soldier. He edged closer to her and whispered.

“Angelina, should we take it?”

“There’s a battalion of Nazis out there. We won’t make it.” She kept her eyes on the box.

The officer started to walk out, puffing out his chest and striding confidently. The priest turned his head and followed him with his eyes, then stood up.

“What will you do with it?”

The officer stopped. He turned around and cocked his head at the priest.

“My apologies, _Vater_ , but that is not something I can, nor would, inform you of. But worry not, it shall be put to good use, for the benefit of all mankind. We will be one step closer towards peace and order. Know this, _Vater_ , that your cooperation has played a part in that.” He pointed his finger at the priest. “You have played a part in saving the human race.”

“You have what you came here for. Will you spare us now?”

“Of course.” He stepped towards the priest. “Thank you for your help, _Vater_. I will spare you and this village.”

The priest sighed and looked down in relief, putting his hand on his chest.

“I will spare you all from further suffering.” He took out his handgun and shot the priest in the head. The priest fell backwards onto the altar floor, blood flowing out of the hole in his head. Jan’s heart almost jumped out of his chest from the sound of the gunshot.

“ _Unteroffizier_.” The officer called out as he turned to go out of the church.

A soldier came trotting up to his side and saluted.

“Spare the villagers from further suffering as well.” He put his gun back in the holster. “That is to say, execute them all.”

“ _Jawohl!_ ” shouted the soldier, before running out of the church.

Jan tensed up his arms, engaging his hidden blades, and ran towards the wall facing the front of the church and peeked through the gaps of the wooden boards. The soldier was speaking to the lieutenant who then barked his orders to his men. They started moving, surrounding the villagers and unslinging their rifles. Jan turned to Angelina; whose eyes were still locked onto the box slowly making its way out of the church.

“Angelina, we have to do something. Those villagers are going to die!”

“Quiet, Jan.”

Jan didn’t believe what he was hearing. He made his way next to her and spoke again.

“Angelina, they’re going to shoot all the villagers.”

“There’s nothing we can do, Jan.”

“But- “

Angelina turned her head towards him, her eyes sharp and annoyed. “And what exactly do you plan to do? Do you see how many soldiers are out there? Don’t be stupid. The only thing you’re going to be able to do is die along with them. You might kill a few Nazis while you’re at it, but in the end, you’ll still become a corpse just like the rest of them.

“There’s something bigger at stake here. Remember? The box? I don’t know what the hell that is, but I do know we can’t let the damned Templars get a hold of that box. The villagers are going to die, yes. There’s nothing we can do, except to let it happen. That might sound cruel to you, but that’s just how the world works. You can’t save everyone.”

Jan’s heart dropped. And then there were gunshots, screams. He moved towards the front, but Angelia caught him by the shoulder.

“Don’t look. You’re only going to make it worse for yourself.”

Men and women were shouting, screaming, begging for their lives. Babies and children cried, only to be followed by another volley of gunshots, and afterwards silence. Tears started forming in Jan’s eyes, and his head felt as if it was going to burst. His breathing was ragged, as ragged as the day his father had died.

“They’re going out. This is our chance. The soldiers are distracted with the shooting. Jan, stay up here. Me and Kevin will jump down, take the box, and throw it back up. Then we make our way back up the tower, run down to the back of the church and lose them in the woods.” She turned to Kevin. “Ready?”

Kevin nodded. Jan tried to calm himself down and kept his eyes fixed on the floor below. He tried to shut out the cries and shooting. Angelina and Kevin stood at the edge of the balcony. The soldiers carrying the box walked towards the door. As the box came right under them, Angelina and Kevin leapt down, blades flashing and the hem of their coats flying.

Angelina fell onto the soldier carrying the box, crushing him on the floor and burying her blades in his neck. Kevin fell on the man next to him, doing the same. Moving quickly, they got up and aimed at their blades at the necks of the two remaining soldiers. A blade went through one’s jaw, punching through his tongue. His eyes went wide. As Angelina pulled out the blade, she stabbed him again in the neck and kicked him back. He fell between the pews, spasming and gurgling blood. Kevin’s blades entered the other man’s neck, just as he was moving his rifle to block his attack. There were running footsteps in front of the church.

“Major Hessel! We found several guards guarding the road dead! They’d been stabbed!”

Jan looked towards the front and the officer turned back, his face pale and his eyes wide.

“Assassins! Get them! Secure the box! We cannot lose it! Kill them!”

The soldiers started turning around and aiming their rifles at the church.

“Jan!” Angelina shouted from down below.

She threw up the box and jumped behind a pew just as the shots began to come. Kevin leapt sidewards and climbed up the wall and onto the balcony. Angelina gritted her teeth and did the same, quickly climbing onto the balcony. Kevin went up the ladder first and turned around at the top of the tower. As Jan threw the box to him, the soldiers rushed inside the church and looked around.

“There! On the balcony!”

Shots rang out around Jan. He ducked and tried to avoid the gunshots. Angelina stood up, holding her Luger pistol. She started shooting back, and one of the soldiers fell as a shot hit his chest. At that, they ran between the pews and crouched.

“Go!” she screamed at Jan.

“They’re going up the tower!” shouted one of them as Jan pulled himself over the top of the tower.

A painful scream followed a shot before Angelina pulled herself up.

“Let’s move!”

They jumped over the handrail and onto the roof, running towards the back of the church. As they leapt down onto the clear patch of ground before the forest, a pair of soldiers each appeared from the sides of the church and shot at them. The three Assassins ran fast towards the forest and disappeared among the trees, shots hitting the trunks and bushes around them.

“They went into the forest!”

“Go after them, you idiots!”

The soldiers followed them into the forest, rifles at the ready. The three Assassins ran as fast as they could through the forest, jumping over the rocks, fallen logs, and brooks that came in their path. Jan looked back over his shoulder. In the distance, the soldiers desperately chased after the trio. At first, there was only four, but soon several more soldiers came out of the trees. Jan ran faster and caught up to Angelina.

“Where are we going?”

“Later. We have to lose them first.”

A shot hit a tree nearby, and Jan looked in the direction it came from. Three soldiers came out of the dense trees on their left. Two were running towards them, one was reloading his rifle. Behind them in the distance, obscured by the trunks and leaves was a small jeep parked by the side of a small path. The lights were still on and the doors open.

“Angelina! They’re trying to flank us!”

Angelina turned her head towards the soldiers and cursed under her breath. She turned to Kevin. “Are you okay with the box?”

Kevin nodded as he continued running, not saying a word and not turning his head. He held the box under his arm on his side, running faster than both Angelina and Jan.

“Jan, keep the box safe, I’ll try to deal with those two!”

Angelina stopped and took cover behind a tree. She unslung her rifle. She closed her eyes and steadied her breath, and then stepped out of cover. The soldiers stopped in their tracks and quickly tried to aim their rifles at her. As they raised the barrels, a shot rang out and one of them fell on their side, their chest quickly turning read. He screamed and desperately held onto his shirt, trying to stop the bleeding. The other soldier looked at his comrade and quickly ran behind a tree as Angelina shot again.

For a moment, Angelina and the soldier traded shots. She’d go behind the tree, reload, step out, and shoot. The soldier did the same. The soldier shouted at his comrades who were approaching in the distance. “I need backup! The bastard’s shooting!”

More soldiers came. They took cover behind trees and rocks, and some crouched and lay on the forest floor, shooting at Angelina. Angelina kept shooting back. Three soldiers had fallen by her shots. But more and more kept coming. They started coming from different directions, slowly encircling her. At this rate, she wasn’t going to make it.

“Kevin! Angelina’s in trouble!”

Kevin looked back his shoulder towards Angelina and then at Jan. Jan pleaded with his eyes, and he nodded. Together, they both turned their heels and ran in Angelina’s direction. Taking up positions behind two trees, they unslung their rifles. Looking at Jan, Kevin held up his hand in a fist, telling him to wait. He pointed at Angelina, and Jan nodded.

“Angelina!”

Angelina looked up from reloading. “What the hell are you doing? I told you to run! Get the hell out of here and get that box to safety!”

“We’re not leaving you. Come here, we’ll cover you!”

Angelina gritted her teeth, annoyed at their insistence of not leaving her behind. She peeked left and right. There were at least a dozen soldiers shooting at her now, not including the three she had shot. She sighed and nodded at Jan.

Jan nodded back and turned to Kevin. In unison, they stepped out of cover and started shooting at the soldiers in the distance. Some of the soldiers who had not been in cover jumped at the sudden shots. They quickly ran for cover, and Jan shot one in the side as he ran. Angelina took her chance. She stepped out of cover, fired a shot, and ran towards Jan and Kevin, who were still shooting. By the time she was almost there, the soldiers had recovered and were shooting back. The two Assassins kept shooting, going into cover only to reload and then going out again. Two more fell to Jan’s shots, but in the distance more of them were coming.

Angelina passed them, running further from the soldiers. Jan and Kevin fired their last shots before running after her. The soldiers shot after them, but most of their shots went wide. Coming out of the trees, they came upon a dirt road going through the forest.

“Where do we go?” Jan asked, looking back towards the forest, aiming his rifle.

The sound of approaching vehicles interrupted them. They looked to their side. A car and truck in the distance were coming quickly towards them. A shot came from the car and hit the ground next to Jan’s feet. With the soldiers approaching them from behind and the car and truck on their side, the Assassins started running into the other side of the forest. It was not as dense, with a lot of space and clearings in between the trees. The truck stopped when the Assassins began running, and a squad of soldiers quickly ran out, following them. The car turned into the forest and drove through the clearings.

Jan looked behind his shoulder. The soldiers that had been chasing them before had come out of the forest. They were now being pursued by more than two dozen soldiers and a car. Most of their shots went wide, but more and more hit nearby trees and the ground near their feet. The car started to have a hard time navigating the trees and had to reverse and turn sharply several times. Eventually, they stopped and got out of the car, running at the head of the chase.

A shot rang out, followed by a thud as Kevin fell to the ground. Kevin grunted as he covered the wound on his thigh. His hand was quickly coated by a thick layer of dark red blood. The soldiers from the car were coming close to him and reloading. Kevin pulled out his gun with his other hand and shot at them. One fell as a shot hit his chest, and the others took cover. Angelina and Jan started running to Kevin.

“Jan! The box!” Angelina shouted at him. The box had fallen from Kevin’s grip and was laying a few paces near his feet.

Jan nodded and ran towards it. As he was about to grab it, a cloud of dirt and dust hit his eyes. A shot hit the ground not far from his face. More shots rained down around him. He fell back and tried to bring himself up again. As he raised himself, a bullet grazed his arm. He screamed, and instinctively covered the wound with his hand. When he pulled his hand away, it was covered in blood.

“Jan!” Angelina shouted from behind him as she helped Kevin walk.

In front of him, the soldiers were coming near. Many had stopped and were taking cover, firing from behind logs and rocks. Jan took out his gun and started shooting blindly at them, the pain making his hand tremble and his head spin a little. Every time he tried to approach the box; the soldiers would focus their shots on it.

“Jan! Just leave it!” Angelina shouted from far behind him, hiding behind a tree and shooting her rifle.

Jan looked at the box, and back at Angelina, and at the soldiers. His eyes went back and forth between the three. He hesitated. Nothing seemed to be the right option. He stood up and took cover behind a tree. The forest was filled with the sound of gunfire. _This must be what a warzone feels like_.

Angelina was still shouting for him to run, but Jan tried one last time to get the box. A volley of shots hit greeted him. He pulled back his hand and screamed. Clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, he ran towards Angelina, shooting blindly behind him.

When he reached her, she lent herself to support Kevin and they started walking further into the forest where the trees started becoming denser again. Jan kept shooting back with his gun, covering their retreat. Before he turned to run, the soldiers were surrounding the box and shooting after him. A soldier ran towards the box, grabbed it, and ran back.

Jan turned away his head and started running, a few steps behind Angelina and Kevin. The shots fizzled out as the soldiers stopped following them. Jan was still gritting his teeth, and tears started forming in his eyes. Images of the villagers and the box flashed before his eyes. He wanted to scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guten Morgen – good morning
> 
> ja – yes
> 
> jawohl – yes, sir
> 
> Leutnant – lieutenant
> 
> SS-Totenkopfverbände – literally “Death’s Head Units”, units of the SS (Schutzstaffel) who joined the Invasion of Poland to terrorise the Polish people and murder Poland’s political leaders, aristocrats, businessmen, clergy, intellectuals, Jews. They later became the unit responsible for guarding and running concentration and extermination camps.
> 
> Unteroffizier – literally “subordinate officer”, roughly equivalent to corporal during World War II. Now roughly equivalent to sergeant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporal#Germany
> 
> Vater – father
> 
> verdammt – damn


End file.
